Robert "Hobie" Harris (born June 23, 1993) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

in the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

organization. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Career

Amateur career

Harris attended

McKinney High School McKinney High School (MHS) also called McKinney High is located at 1400 Wilson Creek Parkway in McKinney, Texas, and is within the McKinney Independent School District (MISD). MHS is the oldest high school in McKinney and the current building open ...

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas, United States. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano, Texas, Plano and Frisco, Texas, Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about ...

, where he played baseball as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

and

. He enrolled at

Paris Junior College Paris Junior College (PJC) is a Public college, public community college with three campuses in East Texas: Paris, Texas, Paris, Greenville, Texas, Greenville, and Sulphur Springs, Texas, Sulphur Springs. The college was founded in 1924 as a cam ...

to begin his

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

career. After playing outfield and pitcher as a freshman, Harris began to focus on pitching in his sophomore year. After his sophomore year, Harris transferred to the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

and played for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

for two years.

New York Yankees

The

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

selected Harris in the 31st round of the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks finished the 2014 season ...

. He made his professional debut with the rookie-level

Gulf Coast Yankees The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the New York Yankees, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional baseball ...

. Harris spent the entire 2016 season with Single-A Charleston River Dogs, registering a 2–4 record and 2.60 ERA with 59 strikeouts in 52.0 innings of work. He spent the 2017 season split between Single-A Charleston and High-A

Tampa Yankees Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the county seat of Hillsborough C ...

, posting a cumulative 3–3 record and 2.63 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 54.2 innings pitched. In 2018, Harris played in 27 games split between the GCL Yankees, Tampa, and the Double-A

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the D ...

, logging a 1–2 record and 2.66 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 47.1 innings of work. The following season, he made 29 appearances for Tampa, recording a 4.62 ERA and 3–4 record with 59 strikeouts in 48.2 innings pitched.

Toronto Blue Jays

On December 12, 2019, the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

selected Harris in the minor league phase of the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, Harris pitched in 42 games for the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, logging a 5–2 record and 3.92 ERA with 51 strikeouts and 8 saves in innings of work. He elected minor league free agency following the season on November 7, 2021.

Milwaukee Brewers

On November 10, 2021, Harris signed a minor league contract with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

organization. He spent the 2022 season with the Triple-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

, making 53 appearances and posting a 4/3 record and 2.04 ERA with 56 strikeouts and 8 saves in 53.0 innings pitched. He elected minor league free agency following the season on November 10, 2022.

Washington Nationals

On November 22, 2022, Harris signed a minor league deal with the

organization. In spring training with Washington, he recorded a 0.90 ERA with seven strikeouts in eight appearances, after which he was selected to the club's

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster. Harris made his major league debut with a scoreless inning of relief against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

, striking out

Marcell Ozuna Marcell Ozuna Idelfonso (born November 12, 1990), nicknamed "the Big Bear", is a People of the Dominican Republic, Dominican professional baseball designated hitter and outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has pre ...

as his first major league batter faced, on April 1, 2023. In 16 games out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

for Washington, he logged a 5.12 ERA with 9 strikeouts in innings pitched. Following the season on October 18, Harris was removed from the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and sent outright to the Triple–A

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

. He elected free agency on November 6.

Minnesota Twins

On January 12, 2024, Harris signed a minor league contract with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

. He made 44 appearances out of the bullpen for the Triple–A

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They previ ...

, struggling to a 4–6 record and 6.79 ERA with 62 strikeouts and 5 saves across innings pitched. Harris elected free agency following the season on November 4.

Boston Red Sox

On November 21, 2024, Harris signed a minor league contract with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

. On December 11, Harris was selected by the

in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.

Personal life

Harris has gone by the nickname "Hobie" for most of his life, a reference to the Hobie Cat line of boats. He grew up sailing with his father, also named Robert, and his grandfather. Harris is married to wife Ally.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Hobie 1993 births Living people Baseball players from McKinney, Texas Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston RiverDogs players Florida Complex League Red Sox players Glendale Desert Dogs players Gulf Coast Yankees players Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Pittsburgh Panthers baseball players Rochester Red Wings players St. Paul Saints players Tampa Tarpons players Tampa Yankees players Trenton Thunder players Washington Nationals players Worcester Red Sox players 21st-century American sportsmen